Creative Director & Co-Owner at Doors of Divergence
Christian Vernon is the Creative Director and Co-Owner of Doors of Divergence, an immersive escape room experience that has earned national recognition for its innovative approach to live-actor storytelling and branching narrative design.
Christian began his career in theater as a high school lighting technician before majoring in theater in college. He spent three years in Chicago as a company director involved in stage management, writing, directing, and acting before moving to New York, where he discovered immersive theater. In 2015, while working as an artistic director for a family entertainment center, he was tasked with creating an escape room and drew inspiration from the video game Myst and his theatrical roots to pioneer a style that heavily integrated live actors.
Doors of Divergence earned TERPECA (Top Escape Rooms Project Enthusiasts Choice Award) recognition during its New York run, with their Madness room ranking 39th and Heresy ranking 169th in 2023. After the New York location closed due to unsustainable commercial real estate costs, Christian partnered with co-owner Zach McCrell to open a larger, more refined 4,000 square foot location in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Fun fact: Christian got into theater in high school specifically to conquer his fear of heights by joining the lighting crew and climbing 30-foot catwalks.
Christian Vernon shares his journey from traditional theater to pioneering live-actor escape rooms in New York, and the exciting reopening of Doors of Divergence in Charlotte, NC. He discusses the intersection of theater and escape room design, creating replayable branching narratives, and the challenges of operating in New York City that led to the company's relocation and evolution.
Host Dmitry Mikhaylov interviews Christian Vernon about the evolution of Doors of Divergence and the upcoming reopening in Charlotte, NC.
Key topics: the intersection of traditional theater and escape room design, designing for high replayability and branching narratives, integrating live actors as the cornerstone of the experience, the challenges of operating in New York City, and the relocation to Charlotte with co-owner Zach McCrell.
Notable quotes: "What if the interesting stuff doesn't happen until the audience walks into the room?" - Christian Vernon. "We definitely design from a standpoint that the actors are going to be the cornerstone of the experience." - Christian Vernon
